The royal party was greeted by children dressed in national costumes, who offered them bread and salt at the entrance to the sanctuary, in accordance with a Romanian tradition. The meeting with Prince Charles, the bear, was funny not only because of the bear’s name. It is said that while the Prince was taking his afternoon siesta, Luna the wolf, with whom Charles shares his enclosure, woke the bear up to greet his noble guests. On their itinerary, the descendants of Princess Ileana of Romania worshipped in the Chapel of St. Seraphim of Sarov, and later approached the bears living in the third enclosure from the underground observation point. The visit of the Highnesses ended after an informal debate on animal protection issues. “The Libearty Bear Sanctuary and the Bran Castle are cooperating very closely. We’re honored to receive the visit of the members of the Austrian royal house, and we’re glad to see the interest the Highnesses show in the protection of brown bears,” said Cristina Lapis, the host of this meeting.
The archduchesses Mary Magdalene Holzhausen and Elizabeth Sandhofer, together with their brother Domnic de Habsburg, are children of Princess Ileana, daughter of Queen Marie and King Ferdinand I of Romania.
